Standing out as a business is crucial more than ever now. Why? Because the number of small businesses is increasing every day. As of 2020, there were 31.7 million SMBs in the U.S (99.9% of all businesses). (Semrush)
Best part – you don’t need a lot of money to start business now. You can start business making money through creating / arts on Etsy or your own website, you can resell other brand’s products through eBay, you can source cheap products for $100 and sell it on Amazon or you can just drop ship and not worry about any inventory.
Most importantly, now we have more organic and FREE ways to market our products through various methods such as social media. There are over 2 billion users on Instagram alone with over 200 million business accounts.
How do we compete in such a competitive small business world?
The answer is – You don’t!
Don’t get me wrong: competition is beneficial. We should conduct market research and become familiar with our competitors. When you hear the word ‘competition,’ you automatically think of better technology, better packaging, better experience, better, better, better…
Thinking about becoming better than someone else or another company keeps us focused on comparing our victories, products, and services to those of others. Because you are so focused on fitting in and becoming better, this comparison mindset prevents you from genuinely providing your clients differently by standing out. You don’t stand out when you’re better than everyone else, you stand out when you are different.
Examples when you are focusing on becoming better:
- Someone is selling scented candles so you start selling the same at better price.
- A business decides to start offering free product with their $30 purchase so you start giving free products at lower price point of $20.
- A business sells pink packaging so you start selling packaging offering more colors.
- A business sells wireless charger that runs on 5hr without charge, so you sell one that runs on 12hr without charge.
Now, don’t get me wrong – there’s nothing wrong with trying to become better. Problem is – when you are trying to get better, you are always in a race with 1000+ businesses while when you are different, you own the whole ****in’ stadium!
How to stand out as a small business?
Standing out requires doing things and applying strategies that helps you stand out and become different, most of the times with just what you have. Let’s discuss some ways that you can do so:
1. Provide A Different Experience
First, let’s talk about what does it mean by experience? A customer experience includes everything from when they find your brand to when you deliver your services/products and beyond. A different experience can be fairly simple and will vary based on your niche/business. For example: when I sold on Etsy, one thing that always got me 5 star reviews was that I used to thank customers after they placed order instead of after they received their purchased order. Now you might be thinking, “That’s it?”, or “That’s not different!” It is! Everyone on Etsy only sends a thank you either in their packaging or after the purchase is complete to get their 5-star reviews. I never asked for 5-star reviews and thanked them after their order instead. This way, even when I didn’t necessarily communicated with them throughout their journey except for this one simple thank you email, they’d give 5-star reviews mentioning “great communication” or “great customer service”.
Point is — it can be really simple things too.
Let me share another story. Let’s say you sell candy that looks like a panda and so does your competitor. However, they are different because their box in which they sell is panda shaped with panda design on it while you just send it as is in regular packaging. Who are people more likely to purchase from? They will buy that cute packaging even though you both sell the same thing.
2. Give Back
People like it when you show concern. Caring for others makes you ‘relatable,’ rather than merely a corporation attempting to’sell’ and earn money. They notice that you are also concerned about giving back. This is very critical for conveying your message and communicating the value of your company.
A small firm that offers reusable packaging supplies, for example, may donate to climate change or recycling charity. Handmade apparel could help organizations that fight fast fashion and child labor.
3. Listen
When was the last time you made a change or improvement to your business through customer feedback? If the answer is “Never!”, then you are not listening. You are not listening or are not open to listening to your customers and probably just running business from your ‘perspective’. Take some time to reach out to your customers and try to get their feedbacks. This can be done simply through polls or social media question/answers. Try to understand how they feel about a topic/niche/product.
4. Connect and Build a Strong Presence
Connection is the key when it comes to not just attracting new but also retaining customers. Make sure that you are constantly seeking feedback, providing value and are always on your customer’s mind.
I suggest to create a ‘sense’ of your product – what does that mean? That means that each time someone thinks of your brand, they should think of some kind of a feeling such as calmness, happiness, joy, colorful, educating, freedom etc. What do you think about when you think of “Nike”? Fitness, right? Motivation, too? ‘Just do it’ – it reminds you to keep going… Some businesses use only rainbow colors for their social media presence especially when it comes to kid’s products.
Rainbow = Happiness and Joy.
Lastly, I’d like to say, just be authentic.
*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that I may earn a small commission from, at no additional cost to you.
